Getting into the series …
A number of our bloggers found the intro of each episode, with the doctor asking Mandsa about the number of her sexual partners, redundant. What was your reasoning behind this?
The reason for this was:
1) to remind viewers of where the story started in Episode 1,
2) to make the point that it is important to also know about your partners' current and past sexual partners.
This acted as a kind of mantra for the series and reintroduces the premise each week: that we cannot ever really know all of the sexual partners we are connected to so the wisest thing we can do is to take responsibility for our own lives - by testing, by having safe sex, by limiting the partners we have, and so on.
In the final stages of the series, you introduced DJ Mo, as a promiscuous club DJ. This was followed by an uproar by club djs accusng the show of implyng that DJ's were painted in a negative light. What's your take on that?
Hahahahaha - I think prisoners, truck drivers, sex workers, white women etc etc could have said the same thing.
I think the series put a challenge to all people about issues like responsible sexual behaviour.
One of the most "outgoing" characters on Intersexions (Jake) could be regarded as promiscuous - but he always takes responsibility for his sexual life - and always uses condoms.
DJ Mo could have been anyone - irresponsible sexual behaviour is not the domain of club DJ's only.
Kabelo could have taken responsibility and went and got tested with Mandisa which would have changed the entire course of their relationship.
The jail scene also got tongues wagging. There was also a comparison to the Yzo Yzo jail scene. Is that a true reflection of what happens in jail?
What we know is that in prisons many men engage in sex with other men. Some of this will be forced and some will be consensual.
Yes, we did possibly highlight a more extreme case of what happens in prisons but the truth is that men in prisons are extremely vulnerable to HIV and studies have shown that the levels of HIV in prison are much higher than in the general population.
Another comparison was made between the Ntate Molete, Ntando and Sylvia scenario to Soul City's father, son and girlfriend HIV infection scenario. What are your veiws on Intersexions being compared to what other drama's have already done?
I think it's great that the public and audiences are comparing and discussing the impact of different dramas. It encourages media-saviness in audiences, which is welcome.
We're even happier that it gets tongues wagging about the messaging around HIV and AIDS and living better lives.
It seems all the male characters on the series have cheated, Duma obviously leading the pack. We've debated this before on TVSA, so I'd like to find out from you as the creators of Intersexions, do ALL MEN CHEAT?
Actually Duma was no more of a Cheat than DJ Mo or Mr Molete for that matter who had 3 that we know of in the series. On this issue it is true that men are more likely to have multiple partners than women - 30% vs 4% under the age of 30.
But there were men that were honourable - Muzi and his commitment to Buhle in the rural KZN love story is an example of such a man. Jake and Mac also embark on a monogamous relationship.
With all the doom and gloom painted in each epsode, the rural KZN love story between Buhle and Muz was rather refreshing. Was that an indicaton that true love conquers all, even HIV?
True love does conquer all if both partners remain faithful to each other or, in the case of Buhle and Muzi, where both partners actually delay sex until they are ready.
The Buhle and Muzi story was a classic love story that drew on the positive aspects of tradition and culture.
That storyline seemed to highlight Durban as the HIV hotspot. Is this the case?
There are a number of HIV hotspots and not only Durban. The fact is that the Ethekwini District is by far the most affected with HIV with about 41.5% of pregnant women attending government antenatal clinics testing positive for HIV.
Other districts with equally high levels are for example Gert Sibande (Mpumalanga), Illembe (KZN); Umungundlovu (KZN); Uthukela (KZN) and Ugu.
The worst affected district is Uthukela where 46.4% of pregnant women reported to be living with HIV.
The interesting thing about this is that most of these districts fall along major transport routes which is party what inspired the story of Duma the truck driver.
Having said that even within provinces where HIV is lower such as the City of Cape Town (18%) within the Khayletisha for example HIV prevalence rates are comparable to those in KZN.
Also, during the series we looked at many different areas Cape Town was featured with the Des, Virginia and Ruth story; Jake, Shaan and Jaymathi and many others were from Jozi and not from Durban.
The point is that HIV is everywhere across the country and we have a duty to keep it low in those areas where it is low.
I recently learnt that an HIV carrier is a male who's HIV positive but his results indicate he's negative but every woman he sleeps with will be positive. Please explain how this is possible?
I am not aware of this at all. Two things are possible here either the gentlemen in question knows his status but is not revealing this; 2) the gentlemen in question is on ARVs with a low viral load which may be undetectable by the HIV tests which does lower the risk of infectivity but there is always a risk of infectivity.
Mavukuvuku slept with a number of females. The women got sick and he seemed to remain healthy. Could he be an HIV carrier?
Watch Eps 26 ... (damn, why do we have to wait...)
With this mentioned, it seems there's no other way of being safe but abstaining?
No it's not true. In South Africa most people only start getting married after the age of 35 so is it realistic to tell people to abstain? And then till when?
There are lots of things that people can do to reduce their risks 1) Have one partner, just one, that you are faithful to and whose status you know.
2) Condomise - if you want to have multiple partners condomise. The fortunate thing is that our studies show that people who do have multiple partners do condomise because people understand the risk of infection.
3) Test and test - testing itself does not prevent HIV but it does help you to make decisions about your health and future whether you are positive or negative. So the choice is really in our hands ...
What sort of feedback have you received regarding the series?
We have had an amazing response to the series. It certainly has gotten Mzansi talking and that is the first step towards getting behaviour change. But now that people have this information they have to take responsibility.
Look, the fact is, that Government cannot continue providing treatment indefinitely - it's expensive and it will place a strain on the health care budget because HIV is not the only disease we have.
So if we are negative let us as South Africans take a stand and keep ourselves negative. If we are positive then let us take a stand to say look HIV stops with me. At the end of the day the victory over HIV is in our hands.
Wll there be a second season?
YES there will be a second series and we would like to hear from viewers what suggestions they have for the second series.
One of the things I think we have done well with Intersexions is to involve the audiences in the entire design of the series from the word go.
We did lots of focus groups discussions, we spent hours looking over reports, trying to find stories, but there are many more stories out there that need and can be told.
The other thing we would like to hear is what did audiences think of the format - Intersexions was not your typical drama series there was only a thin thread that wound the story together.
Would you consider converting Intersexions into a movie?
We will be bringing out a box-set of the series that will be available to the public on sale. We will announce that date and will keep you informed of when that will be.
Any last words to the publc?
Yip, this is your chance to get involved in informing the next season of intersexions. Tell us what you liked and what you did not like and what story ideas you have.
We are happy to listen, happy to engage and happy to keep talking because Intersexions does not belong to us but to all of South Africa.
Can we get a sneak prevew of the final epsode?
The idea was mooted but booted so sorry not possible….
I'd lke to personally applaude you for an excellent job done on Intersexions. In my opinion it's by far one of the best TV production to have come out of our country. It got people talking and highlighted some truths that some of us were unaware of. You have set the standard. Now, can we please continue to give us TV productions of this calibre.
Sources: Intersexions Producers - Richard and Karima.